Bitcoin Next Stop May Be $85K: Here’s Why

Key takeaways:

• Improved Bitcoin mining profitability and massive ETF inflows have calmed investors’ fears that miner selling could cap BTC price.
• Bitcoin dominance hits its highest level since July 2025 as investor interest shifts away from struggling altcoin sectors.

Bitcoin (BTC) surged to $80,000 for the first time in three months on Monday, triggering $270 million in liquidations across leveraged short (sell) futures contracts. This positive momentum for Bitcoin coincided with tech stocks jumping to an all-time high, signaling a broad risk-on environment. Currently, three key indicators point to further upside momentum for Bitcoin.

Nasdaq 100 futures (left) vs Bitcoin/USD (right). Source: TradingView

Bitcoin’s price action maintained a tight correlation with the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 Index. Yet while the US stock market nears its highest-ever level, Bitcoin sits 36% below its $126,200 peak from October 2025.

Bitcoin Hashprice Index by Luxor, USD. Source: HashrateIndex

Profitability for Bitcoin miners has also improved. The expected daily return for 1 pentahash/second has climbed to $37, a high not seen since Jan. 30. This shift is crucial because the total hashrate has dropped 13% over the last quarter. Major publicly listed mining firms have recently liquidated their Bitcoin treasuries to reduce debt and support AI data center investments.

Bitcoin miners, ETF flows and options demand back BTC’s momentum

For a time, traders feared that a decline in network hash power would spark additional sell pressure. Data from BGometrics shows miner reserves hitting 10-year lows and on Thursday, Riot Platforms (RIOT US) confirmed that it sold $250 million in Bitcoin last quarter. Fortunately, the recent jump in mining profitability is beginning to alleviate these structural concerns.

Bitcoin market share, excluding stablecoins. Source: TradingView / Cointelegraph

Bitcoin’s market share, excluding stablecoins, has jumped to its highest level since July 2025. This move reflects a declining demand for memecoins, governance tokens, and blockchain applications in general. Reduced interest in decentralized exchanges and numerous hacks within finance applications have also contributed to the negative sentiment surrounding altcoins.

Combined assets under management for Bitcoin and Ether (ETH) exchange-traded products reached $147 billion, according to a CoinShares report from April 27. In comparison, similar products for Solana and XRP have failed to break above $3 billion each. Investors’ expectations for institutional demand for major altcoins proved too high, as BTC and ETH now account for 95% of that market.

Related: Bitcoin short-term cost basis approaches profitability, but $80K must flip to support first

Deribit Bitcoin options premium put-to-call, USD. Source: Laevitas

Demand for call (buy) option premiums exceeded that for equivalent put (sell) options on Monday by 24%. This data represents a major turnaround from levels seen during the weekend, when premiums paid for call options were 25% lower than those for put options. While it seems premature to conclude that traders are flipping bullish, the fear of an imminent price decline is no longer present.

Friday’s strong $630 million net inflows into US-listed spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) likely contributed to the improved sentiment. Regardless of the high correlation with tech stocks, Bitcoin’s path to $85,000 remains valid given the increased mining profitability, dominance versus altcoins and Bitcoin options data.

This article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and is intended for informational purposes only. It does not constitute investment advice or recommendations. All investments and trades carry risk; readers are encouraged to conduct independent research.